Scientist of DNU Works on Creating a “Solar Battery” of the Future

The director of the DNU Research Institute of Chemistry and Geology, Professor Vitalii Palchykov, spent eight months conducting research at the American Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh). He became one of 10 Ukrainians who received a prestigious Fulbright scholarship for a research internship in the USA last year.

 

Vitalii Palchykov studied how to store solar thermal energy in the world’s first cloud laboratory. He carried out the project “New photoswitches based on norbornadiene-quadricyclane for solar energy harvesting” together with the professors of Carnegie Mellon University Gabriel Gomez and Oleksanr Isaev (a graduate of the DNU Faculty of Chemistry!) – some of the most cited scientists in the field of computational chemistry in the world.

 

My project is dedicated to molecular solar thermal systems (MOST),` said Vitalii Palchykov. – Today, Ukraine is experiencing a serious energy crisis due to the war. More than half of the energy infrastructure has been damaged, and in winter we may again face blackouts. The world is also acutely facing the issue of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. The sun gives us thousands of times more energy than humanity needs, but it is difficult to store it. The idea of the project is simple: special molecules that we synthesize (norbornadienes) under the influence of sunlight are “charged” and converted into a high-energy form (quadricyclane). Then, when needed, they return to their original state and release the accumulated heat. It is like a “solar battery” of the future: it is believed that such systems can be used for heating houses, creating “smart” windows that accumulate energy during the day and give off heat at night, heat generators, and even special clothing or anti-icing coatings for cars, bridges, and roofs. The main thing is that they are environmentally friendly, do not contain heavy metals and can operate for many cycles in a closed system.

 

Carnegie Mellon University is among the top 3 US universities in the field of computer science and artificial intelligence, so it was here that Vitalii Palchykov could combine his 20-year experience in synthesizing complex framework compounds with the most modern AI technologies for predicting the physicochemical properties of molecules.

 

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